Home made self powered brush cutter

[Deaf]

Guys,

Been kicking around converting a pull behind brush cutter to a self powered model to pull behind a large 500CC ATV. Have an old 42” self powered brush hogg we use now and its doing the job but getting old. The new ones range 1500-3500 depending on make. I can get a 48” pull behind KK for 500-700 buck and a 20HP engine for 500-700 bucks. Just need to figure out how to hook the engine to the gear box. I was thinking a triple pulley with 3 belts and use a slip clutch. Some of the pull behinds at TSC already have square tube all the way to the front so you can easily buy another set of rear wheel and slip them in front but might have to weld the front so they don’t swivel. I figured total weight around 1000# ‘s.

Am I nuts or what??

 

[Highbeam]

Can you pirate any of the parts from the old mower? Especially the blade drive equipment? Just which part of the old mower is getting old? Would seem that it could be updated for less$.

 

[Soundguy]

Sounds like on the low end you may only be saving 100$.. that wouldn't even be worth me 'looking' at it.

Other thoughts are a dual pulley system... gonna be a bit of work to rig up... I havn't seen too many rough cutters powered that way.. though 20hp should certaintly spin a 4' cutter. Mind you.. a 20hp lawn mower engine and a 20 hp tractor engine are 2 different things altogether.. lawnmower engines IMHO are rated with using a very sickly and small breed of horses. (grin) In reality.. it is the practice under which they rate the engine hP. Usually their hp # comes from an engine with no accessories, using a special fuel mix.. using a carb setting not available to the consumer.. perhaps even an oil weight not rated for continual use.. and an rpm setting outside of consumer use range.. IE they jusice the engine up to max, and clock the hp right before it detonates.. and then slap that badge on it. In other words.. i'd pit a 16hp SCUT diesel tractor vs a 20hp rider lawnmower -ANY- day of the week...

Soundguy

 

[Deaf]

Sound guy, I guess your right in regards to savings but I always enjoy trying new things and as long as I save money the C.F.O. does not mind!

If I could build one right I think it would be 10X stronger then what I see on the market with the exception of Acreeaze(SP) but they are expensive.

My current Brush Hogg GT42 was acquired from a garage sale cheap and has paid for itself many times over. My little 1215 really spins my 4’ KK hogg but can’t get to all the food plots “safely”. I’ll keep looking and researching.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Soundguy]

No problem. I know what you mean about building stuff. In some cases I've built stuff that ended up being more expensive than a 'bought' part.. just cause i wanted to do it.. or the one I built was better than the oem.. etc.

good luck, stay safe, and post plenty of pics..

Soundguy